


SCP-3

by CompletelyBoned



Category: Undertale (Video Game)
Genre: Cryptids, Dark Comedy, Enemies to Friends to Lovers, Fluff and Humor, Gender-Neutral Pronouns, Horror, Hurt/Comfort, Light Angst, Mystery, SCP, Self-Insert, You know buzzfeed unsolved?, but at least they're nice, but there will absolutely be warnings when that happens, get in babes because we're hunting cryptids and solving mysteries in style, it’s that, papyrus and reader vibe while sans is holding back tears, papyrus is also an unintentional bastard, reader also has common sense, reader is feral and owns a gun, reader is not an scp, slight psychological horror, the reader can also be a bastard, there may be slightly 'graphic' scenes, they may never use it but it's the vibe of it all, you're all a power trio and fight creatures together
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-01-18
Updated: 2021-02-07
Packaged: 2021-03-17 04:48:07
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 10,801
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28843356
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CompletelyBoned/pseuds/CompletelyBoned
Summary: Mysterious disappearances and sights of unknown creatures of the night around the outskirts of Ebott City now plague the area- including two skeleton brothers who moved into the neighborhood with no knowledge of such. This draws in an outsider who does investigations of their own, accidentally causing the three to have their fates entangle with each other- and a much bigger conundrum than they expected.
Relationships: Papyrus (Undertale)/Reader, Sans (Undertale)/Reader
Comments: 43
Kudos: 63





	1. Mystery on Mortem Street

**Author's Note:**

> Welcome to the beginning of the never-ending nightmare of uninvited madness! May everyone's souls be spared.

In the quiet, little cabin-esque house at the end of Arcanum Lane, there was a sleeping skeleton that was resting easily on the couch of the living room; a book with the cover ‘101 Terrible Jokes’ laying over his face as he snored softly. While in the other room, the tall and eccentric sibling of the other was rummaging through all the drawers in the room, rambling on about his newest fixation.

“-AND SO, I’M GOING TO TAKE MY CAMERA WITH ME TO INVESTIGATE THE ABANDONED HOME ON MORTEM STREET AND SEE IF I CAN CATCH A PHOTO OF ONE OF THESE “SCPS” EVERYONE IS RAVING ABOUT! ISN’T THAT GREAT, SANS?” Looking over to his brother and finding him still asleep, he stomped in place in frustration. “SANS!! DID YOU LISTEN TO ANYTHING I WAS TALKING ABOUT?!” Jolting awake, the joke book took a tumble to the ground as Sans wiped at the drool forming at the corner of his mouth.

“of course I was, paps...” Papyrus raised a bone-brow and crossed his arms- not at all believing his brother. “you were talking about those internet hoaxes... cryptids, right?” This caused Papyrus to scoff.

“THEY ARE NOT “HOAXES,” BROTHER. I HAVE SEEN THE PHOTOS, AND THERE ARE MANY OF THOSE ONLINE WHO ALSO STUDIED INTO IT TO SHOW PROOF OF THEIR EXISTENCE. SEE?” He holds out a printed-out photo of a blurry picture of Bigfoot- some urban legend the humans are fascinated with, along with a few others such as- the loch ness monster, mermaids, a staircase that supposedly never ends, a literal floating ball of light...

He put the photos into the red fanny pack he bought to match his red baseball cap that Toriel stitched “cool guy” into for him.

“well, I can’t argue with those poorly taken photos.” Sans said a crap-eating grin on his face that made his brother groan. “so what exactly are you gonna do? go to the old, abandoned mortem house and take some pictures? are you sure that’s safe, paps? you know there’s warning signs around it for a reason.”

“WELL, I’LL DO WHAT EVERY OTHER GOOD SCP INVESTIGATOR DOES! I’LL SIMPLY PRETEND I DON’T SEE IT!” Now, this had Sans raising his bone-brow.

“you're gonna break-in? wow... I gotta say, paps... i never took you for the type to turn a  _ blind eye _ towards that kind of stuff.” Papyrus rolled his eyes as Sans leaned over the back of the couch to get agonizingly close to his brother with a big, dumb smile on his face. Paps pushed his brother, making Sans fall over and join his joke book on the floor.

“I SHALL BE HOME FOR DINNER! AND I WILL COME BACK WITH PHOTO EVIDENCE, ALONG WITH CAREFUL NOTES OF MY OBSERVATIONS TO PROVE THE EXISTENCE OF THESE CRYPTIDS!” Putting on his jacket and his sneakers, he slung his camera over his neck and posed with his hands on his hips. “NYEH HEH HEH! WHAT DO YOU THINK SANS? DO I LOOK LIKE A COOL SCP INVESTIGATOR?” Sans raised his hand and gave a thumbs-up as he lazily peeked from around the couch on the floor.

“you look great, bro. i should start calling you sherlock bones from now on.” His brother squinted at the jokes but gave a proud huff nonetheless.

“I’M GLAD YOU THINK SO! NOW I’LL BE OFF!” He shut the door behind him as he left, leaving Sans to just stare at the dust cloud of Papyrus’s form from suddenly taking off. 

The door abruptly opened again, just big enough to allow Papyrus’s head to peek in as he leaned in from the entryway. “AND PUT AWAY YOUR SOCKS!! THEY’RE STILL ON TOP OF THE DRYER WITH YOUR OTHER LAUNDRY!” The door shut again, making some of the pictures on the wall shake a little. Sans stretched out his weary bones from doing nothing all day and let out a yawn.

“oh, man. well, this joke book isn’t going to cover my eyes by itself.” He said, grabbing the book and placing it back over his face as he went to continue his nap on his new place on the floor.

…

After about several hours, the lazy skeleton awoke from his slumber fest and yawned. 

“well, that was a good nap. now to see if paps found photos of sasquatch…” He got up and walked up to his brother’s room and knocked on the door. “hey paps, did you get any good photos?-” The door creaked open to show an empty space full of his collectible action figures and model cars that he built. “paps?” 

With no response, he went downstairs.

He checked the kitchen, finding it also empty. He shouldn’t be surprised- mostly because Papyrus usually makes a ruckus whenever he’s in there. Sans continued to walk around the house, checking the time to see that it was 6:30. Odd… Papyrus would have been home by now to make dinner and yell at him for sleeping on the ground again. Is he still at the Mortem house? He sent a quick text to him. 

‘hey paps u still hunting the mortem house?’

He waited a few seconds, now growing a little confused. He always answers right away. He sighed and put his phone in his pocket, putting on his slippers and going out to see if his brother happened to lose track of time or something.

The Mortem house was about four miles down the road, so Paps more than likely walked to get in some extra exercise or something. Looking over to see the car still there, it confirmed his suspicions. That guy can sure walk. It probably just felt like a few blocks to him. Luckily for Sans, he’s been to the end of the street before, so he could just shortcut there.

He blipped over and walked further down the eerie road, looking around at the surrounding forest full of pine trees, and shrubs as the dead leaves from the fall blew around in the breeze. By the looks of it, it was going to get dark soon.

The Mortem house was the only house down this street, so everyone referred to it as that. It was an old and rotting house that caught fire several years before the underground opened up about three years ago. It was still standing- since the fire was put out fairly quickly- but the owners just decided to leave it as it was and move somewhere else instead of fixing it back up. Now it’s just a hot-spot for bored teenagers to come over and make up fake horror stories or just draw graffiti or vandalize the place.

He reached the house entrance with the door that had been busted down (more than likely from some punk kid who wanted in or to show off to their friends) and looked over to the warning sign posted next to it. Deciding to just stand at the bottom of the porch, he called out for his brother.

“paps! you still in there?” Only the sound of the old wood creaking from the wind answered him. “paaaaps?” Still no reply.

He scratched his head and walked around the property, stepping around ripped caution tape or other ‘no trespassing’ signs that have been knocked down. 

“paps! you out here, bro?” Still no reply. Now growing ansty, he checked his phone to see that there was still no text back from his brother. Did he chicken out and decide to go into town instead? It wouldn’t exactly make sense since they lived on Ebott City’s outskirts- about 30 miles from town... Even Papyrus wouldn’t walk that far. And, plus, he would have texted him if he had a change of plans.

Pressing the call button, he heard the few first rings of his own phone before hearing a slight buzzing from inside the house. He slowly retracted his hand away from the side of his head and held onto his phone, now starting to make his way up the rickety porch stairs as the buzzing grew closer. He saw the lit-up screen of Papyrus’s phone in the back corner of the trashed and charcoal-colored room.

He picked up the phone, feeling his heart drop as he saw the caller I.D. for himself on the abandoned phone.

“paps!! paps are you here?? come on, it’s not funny, bro.” He was now raising his voice, anxiety coursing through his bones. He was not a horror-type of guy. He hated dark and abandoned places. There was no appeal to him- whatsoever- to ever want to explore these kinds of sites. He didn’t believe in ghosts and goblins- he was afraid of other dangers, such as wild animals or other people who were off their rocker. But… he couldn’t risk it if Papyrus happened to be hurt or something in one of the other rooms.

He cautiously summoned a bone-attack to carry- just in case. 

“papyrus! answer me if you can hear me.” Still silence. He didn’t want to risk those rickety stairs, so he took a shortcut up to the second-floor balcony.

He went room to room, carefully pushing open doors to check to see that it was empty before trying to look for any evidence of his brother. Although Sans doubts that his brother would ever pull a joke like this- if that’s what this turned out to be, though, he’ll be the most upset than he has ever been. “papyrus, please, bro… answer me…” Nothing.

As he came back downstairs, he took a step and felt an object crunch under his footstep that he didn’t notice before.

It was Papyrus’s camera. 

Shortcutting out of the house, he was now running around the outskirts of the property- blipping here and there in a frantic, panicked state.

“PAPYRUS! PAPYRUS, WHERE ARE YOU?!” He looked all around him, feeling like he was in a dazed dream as he made himself dizzy from his  arrhythmic breathing, the start of a panic attack forming.

He ran further into the forest, stopping suddenly when he saw a vibrant, red cap lying on the forest floor. ‘Cool Guy’ was stitched into it with bright, white letters. 

He quickly dropped to the floor, picking it up to dust off the dirt and dead leaves from it, now looking around with his soul pounding out of his chest. 

“PAPYRUS!!” He shouted, his voice echoing around the clearing. He got up, gripping tightly onto the hat like it was his lifeline. He waited a few seconds after his echoes stopped.

There was no response.


	2. What Lies Beneath

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A series of unfortunate events lead to a new person's meeting, along with new knowledge Sans isn't sure he wanted to know.

It’s been two months since the sudden disappearance of the tall and jubilant brother of the two- and with the lack of any leads or traces left at the scene, many have lost hope of finding the brother again.

“Sans, did you want to come over for tea today? I invited Alphys and Undyne to join! And Frisk has been wanting to see you for some time now!” Toriel’s voice rang through the other end of the phone, making the exhausted skeleton sigh under his breath a little as he rubbed a hand over his skull.

“thanks, tori… but i think i’ll have to skip this time...” A sigh could be heard through the phone.

“Sans… I know these past two months have been especially hard on you… but isolating yourself will not help you any. Please… just take one day to give yourself a break from searching…” She pleaded. He knew she was right. Isolation wouldn’t do much help, but he couldn’t risk taking a day off from his investigation. What if there was still something he’s missed? What if whatever happened that day returned and could lead him to find Paps? What if-

“i’m sorry, tori. but tell them and the kiddo i said ‘hi,’ okay?” There was a pause and another sigh of defeat.

“Okay, Sans. Please get some rest, though, okay? And you’re always welcomed to come over whenever.” He felt his soul ache a bit.

“i will. thanks, tori.” After the phone call ended, Sans stood up from his desk full of missing posters and went to the living room downstairs in the now-empty home.

He once again went through the same routine from when Papyrus first went missing. Go downstairs, avoid the mess starting to clutter the place, stare at the map for any other place he may have possibly skipped over or didn’t search thoroughly enough, try not to think about how tired he is, grab his satchel, then put on his shoes and Papyrus’s cap that he kept.

Leaving the house, he walked at a much slower pace- something he’s been doing a lot of these past few weeks. He knows he hasn’t gotten much sleep at all these two months, but with the anniversary mark right around the corner- he’s spent the entire week really pushing himself. He’s been running on three hours of sleep for the past several days- mostly from when he finally collapses and is forced to take a short nap.

He wanted to take the car, considering he couldn’t shortcut more than ten feet in front of him at this point- but he knew that driving would be more dangerous, both to himself and others. So, he started his slow-paced walk towards the place where it all began. ‘Just one more time. Just to be safe.’ He told himself.

The journey took much longer than he thought. Four miles was already too far for his standards, but with his feet dragging and eye sockets feeling more decadent by the second, the 45-minute walk turned more into over an hour.

Finally, he reached the place he knew like the back of his hand—the old Mortem house. 

He hated this place.

There was still caution tape around the place from when the police were first investigating the area- looking for any clues or hints to Papyrus’s whereabouts- but, now, most of it was abandoned. The tape flew carelessly in the breeze from either being torn or from coming undone.

“okay, sans… retrace your steps…” He reenacted the scene to himself from when he first discovered the lost objects. He walked into the rotting house, went to the corner where he found Papyrus’s phone, searched the second floor- once again searching all the room, but looking for intensely; even for the smallest scratch- then came back down, searched all of the floor surrounding where the camera was found, then finally, going outside and analyzing every square foot of the property.

Still nothing. Just like every other day he searched.

He felt his knees start to wobble, both from exhaustion and the disappointment of still failing to find his younger sibling.

“dammit…” He muttered to himself, sitting down under a tree and holding the bill of his hat as he pulled it over his face. He’s not only searched this same area nearly every day- but pretty much anything within a 20-mile radius from it as well. There was still nothing. How could someone like Papyrus leave without a trace? A headache formed, making Sans hold his head as he closed his eye sockets to think.

…

Waking up with a start, Sans looked around to find himself still under the tree at the Mortem house. He must have accidentally dozed off...

Looking up at the sky through the treeline, it was clearly dusk- the darkness of the night creeping ever-so-steadily upon it, along with dark clouds.

‘ _Damn_ …’ He thought to himself, standing up and dusting off his clothes. He readjusted his hat securely onto his head, quietly groaning as he set out to walk all the way back to the house. Even with him being able to catch a few hours of shuteye, his mind was still too foggy and tired to focus on using a shortcut.

Trudging along the side of the road for nearly 15 minutes now, it was roughly pitch-black out, and strong gusts of wind were almost knocking him over as the smell of rain started to fill the air. Great. A storm was blowing through, and he still had about two miles left to make it home.

He grumbled to himself, ready to pull out the flashlight on his phone until the headlights of an old pickup truck pulled up beside him. They rolled down their window on the passenger side, leaning over so they could talk more clearly to him.

“Hey! Did you need a ride?” The person had a friendly smile with bright eyes as they extended the offer to him. He was going to politely decline and thank them for the request, but another strong gust of wind and a flash of lightning started to make him rethink it.

Just to seal the deal, a slow trickle of rain started to sprinkle before just crashing down like a blanket from the sky.

He hopped in and gave a grateful and polite nod to the stranger.

“thanks. i didn’t realize the storm was going to hit so soon.” The stranger smiled brightly and waved him off.

“It’s no problem! I figured we were heading towards the same direction, so I didn’t want to just leave you in the rain like that.” He couldn’t help but start to simper more genuinely. “So, where are you heading?” They asked. 

“oh. just down the road a little bit- at arcanum lane.” They nodded and continued to drive as the music played to create background noise.

“My name’s (F/n), by the way. And I like your hat. It suits you.” He peeked over with a little surprise, still a bit out of it since his nap.

“oh, this? it’s actually my brother’s…” He said, taking it off to look at it. “it suits him a lot more than it does on me, though, heh.” 

“Oh! You have a brother?” They asked. He nodded.

“uh... yeah. i do. he’s a really neat guy. the best at everything… you may have seen him on some flyers around town. you wouldn’t have happened to see him by any chance, would you?” He rummaged through his bag and pulled out a photo he keeps to show any locals who lived in the area. “this is what he looks like.” Their eyes widened at seeing the missing flyer, now realizing what he meant. They took a glance at the photo, eyes narrowing a little.

“No… I haven’t… I’m really sorry about your brother. I’ll make sure to keep an eye out if I see him.” He nodded, disappointed but not surprised. “Do you know where he happened to go missing? Or is that too personal?” They asked. Putting the picture back in his satchel, he answered.

“he was at the mortem house- back there a little. we found some of his stuff, but nothing else.” He rested his head on his hands as he looked out the window as the hard rain pounded against the vehicle. They glanced over to him with a pitiful smile.

“I’m sure you’ll find him. He looks like the type to endure anything.” He gave a small, bitter chuckle. 

“yeah, he is…. thanks.” They turned back to focus more on the road, going back to silence as the radio played softly alongside the storm’s sound to fill the quiet. 

Finally reaching the street sign that said Arcanum Lane, they slow down to turn before suddenly slamming on the breaks, causing Sans to fly forward and almost hit the dash- only his seatbelt keeping him from doing so. He looked over to them, bewildered, as they switched the car into reverse- flooring it.

Again, he was barely kept from hitting the dash, gripping onto it tightly as he stared at them in shock and confusion.

“what are you doing?!?!” He shouted. They barely spared him a glance as they whipped their head around, trying to look out the back window as they drove in reverse at breakneck speed.

“Don’t worry! Just trust me!” They shouted back, panic in their voice. No way in hell is he going to trust this lunatic!

He still didn’t have enough energy to blip away far enough to keep this maniac from chasing after him- so he did the next best thing.

Grabbing the steering wheel, he tried to overtake it, making them yell in panic.

“What are you doing! Are you crazy!?” They yelled, trying to keep the steering wheel straight as they continued to press on the gas. 

“you’re the crazy one! stop the truck!” He demanded, continuing their battle between the steering wheel.

Finally overpowering them- he pulled the wheel towards him, the rain making the truck hydroplane and do a 180 on the road from the sudden jerk of the steering.

“SHIT!” (F/n) shouted. They threw it into drive, once again gassing it, now trying to hold Sans out of reach from the steering wheel with their arm. He was in his fight or flight mode. 

Using his foot to kick himself away from them, he reached to grab for the door handle on the passenger side. If they weren’t going to let him out, he’ll jump out and try to use whatever energy he had to shortcut out of sight from them.

He suddenly stopped his reach once he caught eye of what was in one of the rearview mirrors. 

The words, ‘objects in the mirror are closer than they appear,’ were awfully unsettling as he saw the indistinguishable figure quickly approaching behind the vehicle. He couldn’t get a good look at it because of the rain and darkness- but he wasn’t sure he wanted to. 

Now, things were starting to click for him for the situation at hand.

“floor it!!” Sans gripped tightly onto the emergency handle, nothing but the adrenaline coursing through him at this point.

“I am!! I can’t push down any further!” He quickly looked out of the back window, unsure if he felt relieved or not to see that the creature was no longer behind them. Shouting from beside him and the lurch of the car braking made him swiftly turn his attention to the front. 

The vehicle made a loud burnout sound as it skids to a halt, barely stopping before hitting the large mass of a disturbing and horrifying beast in front of them.

“Stay… quiet…” They whispered. He was holding his breath as the eleven-foot mass of a real monster stood in front of the car- heaving and angry looking as it stood in the headlights. Sans couldn’t look away from it- as much as he wanted to. 

The behemoth was twice the truck’s size; branches, dirt, and moss covered and protruded from the distorted creature body. It also had several shrunken, beady eyes and a neck so thick that it connected the head to its chest. It pierced fear straight into his soul.

“I’m going to unlock the doors… and when I say ‘go,’ we jump out as fast as possible. When we get out, lay flat on the ground. Got that?” They whispered, keeping their eyes locked on the beast in front of them. Sans wasn’t sure why he was going to listen to this person he just met- but nodded anyway, watching in the corner of his eye as they grabbed a bag and another object in their hand.

“Go!”

Just like they said, the doors unlocked, making Sans dive out of the vehicle and throw himself down onto the wet pavement, keeping low to the ground as they said.

The sound of a loud and thunderous clamor from the behemoth- along with the horn sounding from the truck- had Sans staring in horror as he watched as it effortlessly grabbed the vehicle and tossed it across the street like a toy. His breath hitched when he didn’t see (F/n) immediately afterward, wondering if they possibly got stuck in the car, and that’s why the horn sounded.

His anxiety about the human's whereabouts dissolved at the sight of a large, red light glowing through the darkness. He watched with horror to see that (F/n) was holding it, shouting at the monstrosity. 

“YOU WANT THE LIGHT? WELL GO GET IT!” They hucked the flare into the wooded area on the other side of the road, the creature- for an unknown reason to him- chasing after it as it let out another angry roar.

His feet started to move without thought- adrenaline taking over for him as he ran over to (F/n), grabbing them and using energy he didn’t think he had to shortcut them back to the front of his house. He took their arm and fled inside the home, slamming the door behind him as he deadbolts the door- even though he knew it would be no match against the monster.

He whirled his head around to look at the person with him as his body shook.

“what the hell was that?? what was that thing?” He asked as he slid down the door, holding his head in his hands, his body starting to shake uncontrollably. 

‘ _keep it together, sansy…_ ’ He thought to himself, breathing heavily. He flinched hard at the feeling of a hand touch his shoulder.

“S-sorry. Take a few breaths, alright?” (F/n) said, retracting their hand. They looked a bit shaken up as well, but their eyes mainly showed concern to him and his state. “Are you hurt anywhere? Do you need to see a doctor?” He took several deep breaths, trying to calm his nerves. He took several long moments to reply.

“no... no, i’m not hurt…” They sighed a bit in relief before joining him to sit on the floor, rubbing their face with their hands. The two of them sat in silence, gathering their own thoughts about what just happened.

“Thank you for getting us out of there...” They said, looking at him with weary eyes. He only made eye contact for a second before resting his head on his knees, images flooding his mind at what he just witnessed.

“...it’s no problem…” It pained him to have such casual conversation with this complete stranger, especially with what just happened. “what was that thing?” He asked again. They sighed, running a hand through their hair.

“Earth walkers...” His head snapped up in confusion and surprise. He wasn’t actually expecting an answer with a name or any sort of knowledge about it.

“wait... you actually know what that thing is called?” He asked in bewilderment. They shrugged a little.

“I don’t know the actual name for them. I just call them earth walkers because they usually just roam around at night without a bother.” Sans stared hard at them, not wanting to believe them, even though he just witnessed it. “They’re usually pretty docile and without any aggression, but I think the lightning might’ve accidentally directed it closer to town. Light can make them aggressive because it hurts their eyes… but even then… they should have never come this close.” He just sat there in total disbelief of what he was hearing.

“how the hell do you know this?” He had a large mixture of emotional turmoil, not sure what he was feeling. Anxious, scared, angry, entirely in disbelief…

“I- uh- I’ve come in contact with them a few times... Usually, they’re much deeper into the forest and stay in groups… Kind of cool if they don’t turn hostile like that one…” 

He wanted this stranger out of his house. They can keep all this weird stuff to themselves.

But… He’d be lying if he said he wasn’t scared to be left alone, _especially_ with that beast being so near his house. Not to mention… despite scaring the absolute bejeezus out of him earlier- they did end up saving him. 

They pulled out a journal from their bag and flipped through the pages before sliding it over. He stared hard at it before hesitantly picking it up. 

There was a sketch of the creature with notes scribbled on the side of the drawing.

‘ _Friendly- but will grow hostile with light’; ‘Multiple eyes’; ‘Most defining features: large mouths or no mouths at all, beady eyes, large ape-ish bodies covered forest floor contents’; ‘Buries themselves into the ground during daylight hours.’_

Sans felt sick. He already had a lot on his plate with the disappearance of Papyrus- but the idea of actual creatures like these existing had his soul twisting into knots.

He’s dealt with weird things before. The resets, the amalgamates, talking, murderous flowers… This is just too much for him. All of his feelings hit him in the form of nausea.

Racing over to the nearest garbage can, he spilled out all of his contents and nerves into it, tears stinging his eyes from it. He hated feeling sick like this. 

He leaned against the garbage can, just trying to think to himself for a moment. ‘ _come on, sansy… this is just a bad dream… we’ll wake up from this horrible nightmare, and things will go back to normal again…’_

He could see a glass of water being placed next to him from the corner of his eye. Looking up, he saw (F/n) looking at him with remorse and worry.

“I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to freak you out more than you are already. I should’ve waited until you calmed down more.” He was disturbed at the fact that they weren’t more freaked out. You know what? Scratch that. He was disturbed at the fact that they knew anything at all about any of this.

He kept quiet, avoiding eye contact, but took the glass of water anyway. He then sighed- rubbing his face with his hand- wondering if he would regret his next question more than he does anything else that happened today.

“are there more? are there other creatures like that, that just roam around?” They stayed quiet, looking around the room in an unsure manner. “it’s okay. i can handle it.” He said. They took a deep breath.

“Yeah… quite a few, actually…” He stared at them before turning back to the garbage can and hurling again.

…

The skeleton in front of you was leaning over the trash can, breathing heavily. You knew answering him was a terrible idea…

You go back into the kitchen and refill his cup with more ice water before setting it back next to him. You stop, noticing that he was now passed out. Oh, man…

You place the glass of water onto the coffee table, carefully moving over papers and trash that littered it. Oh, man… This guy was more torn up over the disappearance of his brother than you initially thought.

You go over to where he was passed out, unsure if you should move him… Oh well. You lift him anyways, surprised that he was so light… although you probably shouldn’t be because he is only bones… You carried him over to the couch, moving pizza boxes and random objects splayed about on it before gently laying him on it, not minding the fact that he was sopping wet- after all, you were too. 

You decide to take his hat off and lay it next to him on the floor. ‘ _Poor guy.._ ’ You thought to yourself, noticing that dark rings under his eye sockets. He probably hasn’t slept in days.

You looked back over to the coffee table, interested in his map he had. There were x’s, and little notes scribbled on it with red sharpie. It was a map of the area, but most of the messages and red x’s were around a circled area labeled ‘mortem house’ in perfect comic sans. You were impressed by the handwriting.

On the side of the map, it was a close up with several photos taken of- what you assumed- was this Mortem House. Notes were scribbled on it like; ‘camera found here,’ ‘found hat laying here,’ ‘phone was left here.’ This guy was in deep. You felt terrible, knowing precisely what he felt.

You grabbed one of the flyers next to the map, taking a good gander at it. The skeleton was wearing the ‘cool guy’ hat that his brother was currently using- probably for keepsakes—it kind of hurt your heart to think about it. You look at the name- Papyrus- and read the description of him, along with the date of his disappearance. You place the missing paper down and scan over the map again, lost in your thoughts- wondering if you should try to find your truck again and see if it was still salvageable- even though you detested the idea of having to go back out into the storm.

You’re quickly cut out of your thoughts upon noticing a green wrapper in one of the photos near where the hat was found. You snatched the paper and brought it close to your face, feeling your heart drop. It was a chocolate mint wrapper.

“Oh, God…” You grab the Papyrus paper, quickly taking out your scissors and cutting out the photo. You open your journal and flip to the back of the book, trying to find an empty spot next to the dozen photos of other missing persons. You scribble the name ‘Papyrus’ at the bottom of it, along with the date of disappearance. You add a note next to it. ‘Mortem House.’

You drag your hands down your face. “Toby… You better not be involved…”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading, and I really hoped you guys enjoyed it!! It's definitely a darker tone than what I usually write- but I hope you all enjoy it, nonetheless! 💕💞 I always accept constructive criticism and try not to get completely boned ;)


	3. Inquiry in Ignis

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Neither of you can really seem to stop having your fates run into each other.

In the house on Arcanum Lane, there lies two persons, one on the couch that was littered with papers and refuse- while the other sat by the sofa, leaning against it as a rest for their head as they tried to gather their energy as they dozed.

Sans slowly sits up from his place with a groggy groan, looking around with blurry-eyed confusion- his back cracking from his uncomfortable position he slept in.

‘ _ what the hell… was that a dream _ ?’ He thought to himself, looking around the home with eyes glazed with sleep, slightly chuckling as he rubbed his head with a neurotic grin. Maybe that’s what he gets for not getting enough sleep. He probably fell asleep when he was studying the map yesterday.

He stood up, the heavy tension lifting from his chest- but he was still left slightly unsettled by the nightmare. 

Sans made his way over to the kitchen, popping a K-Cup into the Keurig to make some coffee. He used to hate coffee, but it was good to help him stay awake, making it eventually grow on him. He shakes his head at recalling the dream, making him let out breathy chuckles.

“maybe i should lay off the junk food before passing out.” He said to himself, setting down the coffee onto the table and sitting back down on the sofa to peer over the map. 

Nothing new as he can see. He wanted to check out the Mortem House again, but with the nightmare from last night- he decided that checking out the small town next over would better suit him. 

He went there only a few times; it was called Ignis and had a small population of about 800. It was a pretty sleepy town with farmers or townsfolk who just minded their business. Everyone seemed to know one another and just somehow always knew whenever anything “exciting” happened- so when Sans came over with missing flyers, word spread around town pretty quick, and many were eager to keep an eye out for his lost brother- probably because nothing exciting ever happened there. 

Well, it can’t hurt to look around again. Plus, there was an exceptionally nice old woman named Harriet who knew every nook and cranny of the town. She gave great ideas for places to search and useful advice on how and where to gather information. Not to mention... he’d be lying if he didn’t admit that he really craved one of her lemon bars right about now. 

Taking a swig of his coffee, he stood up and stretched, getting ready for his day. Seeing Pap’s old hat on the floor, he bent down to pick it up but stopped short at catching sight of a sneaker poking out from behind the couch.

San’s breath hitched in his nonexistent throat, and his SOUL dropped to his stomach.

“you can’t be serious…” He hesitantly rounded the couch and nearly passed out at seeing the stranger from his dream sleeping against the side of the couch, holding their bag close to their chest. Most- if not all of his thoughts left his mind as he decided to circle back to the front of the sofa and sit down to contemplate everything that happened again.

‘ _ deeeeeep breath, sansy… _ ’ He felt his eye socket twitch a bit with slight hysteria. ‘ _ deeeeeep breaths… _ ’

The quiet grumble from the person, (F/n)- if he remembers right- made Sans get up and go back to their curled up form. He wasn’t sure if it was creepy or not, but he stood in front of them and watched as they groggily awoke. They looked up and made eye contact with them, looking a little surprised.

“Hey… You’re awake. How are you feeling?” Sans only blinked at them as they looked around and gave a nervous laugh. “Heh… Are you doing better? You weren’t looking too hot last night. I didn’t mean to actually crash here without permission… I must’ve just accidentally dozed off…” They continued to nervously peer around the room, awkwardly waiting for Sans response. 

“out.”

Was it a little bit harsh to kick out the stranger who may have saved him last night? Maybe. But to be fair… He could have lived an entirely semi-normal life looking for his brother without the knowledge of other creatures existing that defied the laws of nature. 

They give a defeated, breathy laugh as they stand up. 

“That’s fair, I guess. Was it because of the journal?” (F/n) asked. Sans started to push them towards the door, eager to get mystery-maniac out of his house.

“yes- and you can keep that freaky stuff to yourself. i have enough to worry about with my brother, and i don’t need you here to make me paranoid in my own house.” They get to the doorway, and they step outside in front of the entrance, turning around with a sheepish smile.

“If it makes you feel better- they usually stay away from places with people!” They said as if that would reassure him in any way at all. He shut the door on them, now pinching his nasal bridge with a groan. It could have been such a good morning…

“stays away from people,… sure.” He grumbled to himself- not reassured in the least. Finally, it dawned on him. One of those creatures couldn’t have run into Paps, right? Sure he was searching for one of those ‘cryptids’... but he couldn’t have possibly found one, right?

“oh, stars, paps… don’t tell me you actually found something…” He groaned, new anxiety creeping in.

…

“Dang, I really have to walk three miles to find my truck, huh?” You mumbled to yourself. ‘ _ I mean… It was fair to get kicked out, I guess… I would probably do the same _ .’ You thought to yourself. “Man… He could have at least offered a ride…” 

The storm was definitely far gone- the sky now a happy blue with cumulus clouds just gently floating on by- only the wet grass and puddles on the road showed there was ever a storm, to begin with.

“Ah! There she is. Ol’ Red.” You finally catch sight of your truck on the side of the road, still a ways off, but you can clearly see the massive dents and broken windshield from here. Darn it, you’re definitely going to have to take it to the shop… if it was even salvageable at this point.

Finally reaching the truck, you suck in a breath through your teeth. She was worse than you thought. It managed to roll and land back on its tires, but there was definitely no saving it.

“Dang… We’ve been through a lot... Never thought this is how we’d part.” You open up the passenger side- the whole door deciding to fall entirely off. 

Geez, insult to injury.

You crawl in- careful to avoid any glass or other objects that could harm you, and finally found your emergency backpack for moments like these. You open it up, finding some extra flares; a first-aid kit; emergency tool kit; extra set of clothes; bear spray; a gun- meant only for absolute, last resort situations; and several large wads of cash. Well, everything is here, at least.

You pulled out your tool kit with the Allen wrench and took off the license plates on the truck, shoving the plates into your backpack before using your lighter to burn off the VIN number from the vehicle. No way are you going to pay that insurance claim.

You slung your backpack over your shoulders, rearranging things, so your satchel and bag weren’t annoyingly getting into your way as you walked. 

There was no way you were going to actually walk over 20 miles to get back to your motel. You pulled out your phone, pulling up a taxi service before pausing. You can’t exactly just tell a taxi to drive to pick up someone on the side of the road. Deciding the next best thing- you pulled up your map on your phone to see that one of the closest streets happened to be called Mortem Street. Ah, the house where that Papyrus character went missing… Well… It couldn’t hurt to head there and explore the place while you waited for the cab to come.

You walk about another mile down to see the rusted street sign labeled ‘Mortem Street.’ You make sure to keep an eye out as you walked the area leading to this ‘Mortem House’ your poor buddy who hated you was so obsessed with- and you can clearly see that there was an investigation that was held.

Most of the caution tape was tattered, and you can clearly guess that the investigation was probably dropped- considering it looks like the building was probably in use again for teenagers to cause a muck in. 

You searched around the property and the house, pulling out your camera and snapping a few photos of the place. You raked your brain for ideas- pulling up the photos you took of the map back at the house. There was nothing really out of the ordinary- aside from the literal disappearance and Toby’s candy wrapper… but otherwise- no claw marks, no traces of bodily fluids or monster dust…

You felt terrible thinking about it- but two months is a long time for a person to be missing. You can’t make a precise yes or no proposition of whether or not if this Papyrus monster is still alive- but you really hoped that against all the odds, maybe a streak of luck happened, and he’s still alright in terms of being alive, that is.

Hearing the sound of a car coming down the interstate, you hurry back towards the street sign, waving at the cab before hopping in.

“Where are you headed?” They asked. 

“I’m heading to the Hot-Stop Motel in Ignis.” They nodded their head, humming a tune to themselves as you flipped through the pages of your journal- thinking if there might be any SCPs that could have possibly been provoked enough to go into an area where humans and monsters lived. Even though the place was in the outskirts- the interstate alone usually keeps the entities away. 

You were extremely confused. Even the earth walker from last night was awfully close to civilization- lightening or not- it was abnormal behavior for them.

“So you were at the ol’ Mortem place, ey?” You snapped your head up, your focus being ripped from your journal.

“Oh yeah. I was just taking a little look around the place.” The older man chuckled a bit to himself.

“Have you heard the rumors? I guess someone was tryna’ explore the area and disappeared.” You twiddled with your fingers a bit.

“Yeah, I heard that. What do you think happened?” You asked. Sometimes, old-timey locals tended to have the best theories. Many say they’re off their rockers, but most of the time, they actually sent you into a direction much closer than others have.

“Me? Well, others may say that some escaped crazy from the ol’ burned down loony bin a few years back managed to snag ‘im. I think it’s just a bunch of baloney! It was more than likely a pack of wild dogs.” You nod your head, reminding yourself to write those down later.

“You think it was a pack of dogs, huh?” You asked. He let out a loud scoff.

“Oh yeah! These people have no idea what they’re talkin’ about… Some escaped mental patient…” He scoffed again, seeing him roll his eyes in the rearview mirror. “The ol’ loony bin burned down years ago. Unless that escaped patient happened to be Superman himself- it’s the stupidest thing I’ve ever heard!” You laughed a little, nodding along. “Now those packs of wild dogs I was talkin’ about? Now that! That’s what did it, I bet ya’!”

“Are there wild dogs around the area?” You questioned.

“Oh absolutely! Last time the wife and I tried to take a nice, pleasant walk around the forest trails about a month ago, and all you could hear is this snarlin’ and barkin’. In all my 65 years, I swear I never thought that I’d have to turn back and hurry as fast as we did to get back to my car! Nearly threw out a hip!” You had to suppress a laugh from his funny way of telling stories but was intrigued. 

“Did you happen to see any?” He clicked his tongue. 

“Can’t say that I did. But my wife and I live pretty close to the woods, and you can always hear them being up to no good. I’ve called the sheriff plenty of times, but they only find deer tracks- which don’t make any sense because I’m not askin’ about deer, I’m askin’ about dogs!” You nodded along, preparing yourself for the rant about to ensue. “And then they go, ‘well, there ain’t no dog prints we can see.’ Then look harder, dammit! I outta’ go out there myself and show them how to use those eyes of theirs- because I know what a dog sounds like! Dang deer tracks… Why I outta’...” 

“Maybe I should take a look myself and get those pictures of the dog prints and show the sheriff for you.” You say, enjoying his grandpa attitude he holds.

“Please do! And when you find them tracks and show the sheriff, make sure you tell ‘em Darren Warner said, ‘I told ya’ so’!” You laughed and agreed with him as he pulled up to the Hot-Stop Motel.

“Now you be careful out there, youngin’! Make sure you steer clear of them dogs now, ya hear?” You give him a smile and hand him a $100 bill. His eyes widened at the cash, ready to inject- but you quickly wave him off.

“Keep the change, Mr. Warner. I’ll try to get those photos for you. You can treat yourself and your wife to something nice! Those dogs probably keep you both up at night.” He smiled and held out his hand for one of those infamous old man handshakes—the ones with calloused hands and firm grip.

“Thank ya’ very much, youngin. Ya’ stay safe, ya’ hear?” You nodded and smiled before waving him goodbye as he drove off. ‘ _ What a nice, old man _ .’ You think to yourself.

You walked over to your motel room, unlocked the door, set your backpack down in the corner of the room, and hung up your satchel by the door. You opened up the drawer to the lampstand beside the old and squeaky bed, pulling out your voice recorder.

“Entry 137- May 21st, 20xx,” You started, setting the device onto the bed as you flipped through your journal. “Yesterday, I came across a skeleton as I was heading back to the motel and offered him a ride because of the storm, but happened to run into a hostile earth walker, A.K.A.- SCP 7529, while on the way. It was much closer to civilization than normal, and the skeleton was also exposed to its hostile attack. I never caught his name- but he’s missing a brother named Papyrus.” Opening the journal, you turn to the page with Papyrus’s entry.

“He went missing back in March at an old abandoned house on Mortem Street- dubbed the Mortem House-” Continuing to speak into the voice recorder of everything that happened, you were turning page after page trying to find any other entities that could possibly be described with sounds of barking, or even deer prints. “I’m going to talk to Toby tonight and see if he possibly had anything to do with Papyrus’s disappearance, in hopes maybe I could possibly find him and any other missing patients and nurses... End of entry.” 

You turn off the voice recorder and scratch your head. There are a few things that could make barking noises like dogs, or have deer hooves. Skinwalkers… Wendigo… SCP 939… Toby…

You hum and close the journal, checking the time. 3:00 exactly. Well… At least everything in Ignis is close together. You could probably just walk around and buy some groceries- possibly buy that old scout SUV in front of the Kum and Go down Main Street. At least do something until it gets a little darker, and you can talk to Tobes without risking anyone spotting him.

…

Having enough energy to drive safely- Sans brought along his backpack and an extra-large thermos full of some more coffee. Yes, he could just shortcut there, but the longer the distance- the more of his energy and magic would drain. As much as he  _ hated _ to think about it, he felt a strong need to actually keep up with his magic now- especially if what that maniac- (F/n)- said was true about more creatures like that existing.

He tried his hardest to repress last night. The more he denied it ever happening, the more sanity he would have! Right?

He decided that he should take a lap around the small town again- possibly check in on Harriet and snag a quick lemon bar before he scopes out the surrounding woodlands.

Looking down and seeing that the gas was running low, he decided to pull up to the Kum and Go- always chuckling to himself every time he thought of it. It honestly was the only reason he went there, really. Paps always would groan every time they would pass one whenever they drove to look for more places for him to collect items for any of his puzzles. He still had quite the knack for it and always tried to make some at home in the yard.

Sighing as he thought about his brother, he pulled up and paid for the gas before his head swirled at the familiar voice from last night. He quickly looked behind him to see that (F/n) was talking to a man as they inspected the old scout that had been parked there with a ‘for sale’ sign on it.

He hissed, quickly jumping back into the car as he waited for the tank to fill. ‘ _ what are  _ **_they_ ** _ doing in Ignis?? _ ’ He tried to sink further down into the seat, praying that they didn’t recognize the car or spot him.

“come on… fill faster!” He mumbled. Hearing the jerk of the pump shutting off, he quickly looked into the rearview mirror to see them shaking hands with the man, taking the keys, and jumping into the Scout, now taking off from the gas station. Oh, what wonderful timing!

He jumped out of the car and removed the hose before taking off in his own direction—close call.

…

Jumping into the new scout you purchased, you were giddy with excitement. It was an old Johnny Lightning scout, and you knew that your dad would be so jealous right now if he saw it. 

You turned the baby on and smiled as it purred to life. It was in excellent condition for being made in the 70's- the only reason it was being sold was because Mr. Jensen decided it was finally time to let go. You made sure to promise him that you’d take care of the ol’ girl.

As you drove off, you looked over to your right and had to take a pregnant pause as you realized that it was the same car from the stranger’s place from last night. What was he doing in Ignis?

Shaking your head, you go back to doing your thing- heading over to the small, local grocery store a few blocks down. You were running pretty low on food in the small motel you’ve been staying at for the past three weeks. Even though it was a kind of run-down motel, it at least had a mini-fridge and a microwave! It was something, right?

Heading over to the store called ‘Kash ‘n’ Karry’- a reference to the owner's last name- you pulled up and brought your bag with your wallet in with you.

With the small bell jingling above you as you entered the store, you gave a wave to the teenaged monster who you knew wanted to quit his job and continued to search the aisles for whatever you needed.

Just picking up basic things that you could either microwave- or try to throw into the rice cooker you got, you stopped and stared at the mint chocolates in front of you. Wrapped with just a classic green wrapper, you grabbed a couple of bags and went to check out.

“Hey, Logan. Mr. Karry still keeping you busy?” You asked, loving to tease the kiddo. He groaned and checked out your items.

“Yes. If it wasn’t for the fact that my parents would rag on me for quitting- I’d do it by now.” You laugh, making his rabbit ears twitch with annoyance at the idea of having to work. “Why are you still here, anyway? Didn’t you say you moved around a lot for your job?” He asked, bagging the chocolates.

“Eh. Work’s making me stay a little longer. Plus, I think Ignis is kind of nice.” The teenager rolled his eyes.

“Yeah, if you like watching paint dry. Only old people like Ignis.” You smile at the rabbit.

“Well, there’s still Marcy you can hang out with. She’s your age.” He blushed a little through his white fur. You give him a teasing smirk- knowing fully well of his crush on the girl in question.

“Pfft… Like she’d hang out with someone like me…” You send him a wink and pay for your items.

“I don’t know~” You mused. “Marcy still has that stuffed rabbit you gave her for the school dance last week.” He flushed a deep red, stuttering and giving you a glare.

“Whatever! Just take your stupid groceries!” He shoved the bags towards you, making you laugh.

“Alright, I’ll stop teasing.” You head towards the door, stopping when Logan called out.

“C-can you tell Marcy I said ‘hi,’ when you get back to the motel…” You send him a wink and another smile.

“Of course I will.” You can’t help but snicker to yourself as you load up the groceries. It was always fun teasing the rabbit monster. Sure, only knowing him for three weeks- but with it being a small town and everyone knowing each other, when you made your appearance and stayed longer than three days, everyone pretty much in town made their own ways of greeting the newcomer whenever you happened to be doing errands in town.

Being mostly older people, they had a blast telling you everyone’s business and all the tea whenever you stood in line in stores or happened to be at the gas station. You were also there for “work,” so you went around and tried to get to know people to collect intel in discreet ways. 

While you would get some useful information from your chatting with them as a “reporter,” you definitely got more than enough background knowledge on everyone in town as well.

Being at the grocery store pretty much every day for Toby, you eventually were able to finally spark a conversation with the angsty teen you always saw running the register- which ultimately led you to find out about his little crush on Marcy, the other teenager who worked at her family’s motel. 

He was one of the few monster families who moved into Ignis, and while you were kind of wary of how monsters would be treated- especially because smaller towns can be a bit… in their own ways of opinions on people who weren’t like them… They actually accommodated all of the families very well. You were very pleasantly surprised to see that everyone was kind to one another when you first arrived in town.

Speaking of the devil, pulling into the motel and putting your groceries away, you grabbed some more money and walked over to the front desk.

“Hey, Marcy! I wanted to pay for another week’s worth of stay.” The girl with dyed dark, green hair that matched her gothic makeup rolled her eyes as she looked up from her magazine.

“Ya’ know… These aren’t apartments…” You gave a sheepish grin.

“Uh… Sorry. Did you want me to find another place to stay?” She rolled her eyes again and removed her black platform boots from the countertop.

“Ugh… If it wasn’t for the fact that you’ve been the only customer that doesn’t sell drugs and manages to keep the rent for this crappy place, Dad would’ve made you leave a while ago.” She held out her hand in an unimpressed manner. “$150.” She said in her classic, monotone voice. 

She and Logan definitely shared one thing in common- they hated their jobs. Speaking of Logan…

“Thank you, Marcy!” Handing her the cash, you smiled. “Oh, yeah. Logan told me to say ‘hello’ to you.” Her face dusted with a soft pink on her pale features. Despite her trying to keep her uncaring attitude that she mastered to fit her goth aesthetic, a small smile was twitching at the corners of her mouth.

“Psh… Whatever…” You watched as she glanced at the stuffed rabbit on the counter next to her, making you smirk to yourself. “I’m only letting you stay because you always have weird things happen to you. It’s the only cool thing this crappy town has to offer.” You laugh a little under your breath and nervously scratch at your arm.

“Well, thanks again, Marcy. Make sure you tell your parents I said ‘hi.’” She just rolled her eyes and went back to propping her feet up and reading her magazine.

…

‘ _ stars... still nothing… _ ’ Despite spending pretty much the entire day searching out the area surrounding Ignis again and talking to Harriet- there still wasn’t anything to actually find.

Climbing back into his car, he sunk into his seat and sighed. Is there really nothing more he can do? He shook his head from his thoughts. Of course, there is! He can’t give up. Not with Paps on the line like that.

He cursed to himself. He probably would have found something if it wasn’t for the new fear instilled in him by that stupid person from yesterday. He… He didn’t go as far into the forest as he would’ve liked to… He was slightly afraid of what he could run into. 

Cursing again, he grew a little angry- both at himself for being a coward and towards (F/n) for telling him the  _ last _ thing he ever wanted to know. He wanted so badly to blame them for hindering his ability to search the way he normally did… but he knew deep down it wasn’t really their fault. Afterall… At least set him onto another path to find Paps… And… Maybe... they saved him. If they weren’t there to give him a ride, would he have eventually crossed the beast himself?

He didn’t want to think about it.

Looking up and seeing that it was nearly sundown, he checked his map and noticed one last spot he didn’t check. He decided that he would quickly rake the area and head home before his paranoia of the unknown came to him again when the sun actually set.

…

“Tobes… You out here, bud?” You called out, not worried if anyone heard. You were a little deep into the woods across the motel at which you stayed- so you doubt anyone would actually be anywhere near this clearing. 

This happened to be the very spot you met Toby, and ever since then- it kind of became the place where you would be able to call to him, and he’d be nearby. 

“Toby!...” You scratched your head, wondering if he happened to be exploring somewhere else.

Just as you were about to call out again, a large, distorted human-looking creature launched itself down in front of you. The creature’s ribs were defined by the strange, malnourished look to it, along with the rest of its body. Its arms were down to its knees and the powerful, muscular looking legs- shaped kind of like a dog’s hind legs, led to feet with two toes with deadly sharp claws to it.

It ran over to you, leaning its face without a nose and white eyes close to yours. He made gurgling sounds through its mouth that had flesh that pulled apart whenever it opened its mouth- never actually tearing. 

It was like looking at a horrendous mutant of a human. But… Anyone would be surprised to know that the seven-foot monster happened to be your mutant monster.

“Hey, Tobes. Wondering where I was last night?” The cryptid leaned back from your face, a sad sounding whine coming from him. You smiled softly at him, feeling guilty that he was left worried. “I’m sorry, buddy. I got caught up with some stuff. Did you still have the spare key so you could go inside and get away from the rain?” He gurgled, running over to a nearby bush, and removed a large rock that had a hole full of his knick-knacks. He proudly showed the key, a happy trill coming from him.

You laugh as he walked back over, a frown on his face- clearly upset by your absence from last night.

“Sorry, man. A lot of weird things happened last night. I got caught up in the storm.” He gurgled again before grabbing your arm to inspect it for injuries. “Don’t worry, Tobes. I didn’t get hurt. But, uh… I did find something interesting.” He looked up, his white eyes shining with curiosity.

You dug into your bag, pulling out your journal and flipping to the back of the book. Stopping at the picture of Papyrus, you turned it over so Toby could see.

“You wouldn’t’ve happened to see him before, have you? He’s been missing a couple of months now. His name is Papyrus...” Toby grabbed the journal from you as he brought it closer so he could inspect it. Then, he made a happy trill, excitedly pointing to the picture of Papyrus.

Your face lit up, thrilled that he seemed to have recognized the monster in the photo.

“You’ve seen him? You’ve seen Papyrus?” Toby nodded his head eagerly.

“Yyyrusss-” His voice was scratchy as he tried to repeat the name. You knew it was hard for him to speak, but you were just animated at the fact that he seemed to recognize the missing monster.

“Toby, do you know where he is? Can you show me?” Again, Toby nodded excitedly. You sighed happily. You don’t know what state the monster in question is in, but if Tobes happened to know where he is- it’s better than nothing.

You reached into your bag and pulled out one of the bags of chocolate, Toby immediately recognizing the sound of the bag and trilled loudly in anticipation at his favorite snack.

Before you could even get the chocolate out of your bag, the cryptid greedily snatched from you and tore into it.

“Tobes! What have I said about manners-” Sudden snarling and a screech from Toby had you pull back in fear and made you swirl over to where your friend was bearing his teeth at.

At that moment, you stare face to face with the short skeleton from last night; his eye lights completely vanished from his eye sockets. 

_ Oh no… _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry it took so long for the update! But at least we're able to finally meet our mystery friend with the green wrapper! Thank you guys so much for your comments and thank you for supporting my dumb little fic 🥺 I always take constructive criticism and try not to get completely boned ;)

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you so much for reading this little chapter and I hope you all enjoyed!! 💕 I always accept constructive criticism and try not to get completely boned ;) You can also join me on tumblr at completelyboned!


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